This invention relates to the therapeutic use of somatostatin and somatostatin analog peptides.
Somatostatin is a naturally occurring tetra-decapeptide having the following amino acid sequence:
H-Ala.sup.1 -Gly.sup.2 -Cys.sup.3 -Lys.sup.4 -Asn.sup.5 -Phe.sup.6 -Phe.sup.7 -Trp.sup.8 -Lys.sup.9 -Thr.sup.10 -Phe.sup.11 -Thr.sup.12 -Ser.sup.13 -Cys.sup.14 -OH.
A number of somatostatin analogs have been described in the literature and patents, including analogs containing fewer than the naturally occurring fourteen amino acids. For example, Coy et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,371, hereby incorporated by reference, describes octapeptides having a C-terminal NH.sub.2 and D-Trp at position 4: ##STR1## A preferred compound has D-.beta.-napthylalanine (D-.beta.-Nal) at positions 1 and/or 3; Tyr at position 3; and Val at position 6. (Herein, when no designation of configuration is given, the L-isomer is intended.)